Maoists threaten to kill judge who awarded death penalty to five

This is the first time Maoists have threatened to kill a judge for pronouncing death penalty to five of their colleagues, held guilty of killing two CRPF men in blasts during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Maoists have threatened to kill a judge of the lower court who sentenced five of their colleagues to death on May 25 for killing two CRPF personnel in blasts during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar.

The Maoists have threatened the additional district judge-I, Munger, Jyoti Swarup Srivastava, to try him in a ‘Jan Adalat’ (people’s court convened by the Maoists) and award him ‘capital punishment’.

This is the first time the Maoists have threatened a judge. They have in the past issued warnings to politicians and police personnel.

In a letter circulated in north Bihar by the Bihar-Jharkhand Seemant Zonal Committee of CPI (Maoist), the extremists have condemned the sentencing of the five “innocent farmers” and called for a mass agitation against the order.

The signatory of the letter, Laljit Koda, has also called for a bandh in five districts of Banka, Bhagalpur, Lakhisarai, Jamui and Munger today and tomorrow (May 28, 29) against the sentencing.

Following the threat to judge Srivastava, his security has been enhanced though Munger superintendent of police (SP) Ashish Bharti denied there was any threat.

Talking to HT, the SP said security has been enhanced for the judge after he pronounced death penalty against five Maoists for killing two CRPF men in blasts in 2014. The blasts were triggered when the jawans were on way to a polling station in Jamui.

Meanwhile, the Bihar Judicial Service Association (BJSA) has expressed concern over the security of judicial officers, especially those posted in Maoist hit district of the state.

“The state’s new security norm of May 2 has withdrawn security cover to judicial officers below the rank of chief judicial magistrate,” said Ajit Kumar, secretary of BJSA. He said, earlier security was provided to all judicial officers dealing with session and magisterial cases.

“The new resolution takes care of personal security of ex-MLAs and former MLCs, but is silent on security of ex-judges,” he said. A representation to reconsider the government decision on extending personal security cover to judicial officers had been submitted to the director-general of police (DGP) and the home secretary on May 18, added Kumar.